What's Got You Up, Buttercup ?
by Going places
Summary: She'd never been one for baths, but the slightly too hot water was just enough to take her mind of the previous days events.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

 **Cameron**

The moonlight coming in through the window is what wakes him, groaning, he gets out of bed, making his way to the window to close the blinds, as the room grows darker, he gets back into bed only to notice that the other side of the bed, her side, is now unoccupied, a dull worry starts to fill him, as it usually did when he wasn't sure where Kirsten had wandered off to. She hadn't been herself after todays stitch, and it wasn't just the residual emotion, no, this was something he couldn't quite place his finger on. Twisting his body to face the door to the adjoining bathroom he notices a sliver of light peeking out from under it. He pads across the cold hardwood floor. The door opening with a faint click.

 **Kirsten**

Resting her head on the edge of the tub, she sinks further in to the soapy water. The temperature of the water slightly burning her skin, but she doesn't care, not tonight, not after that stitch. This one had been by far the worst one, and it wasn't just the odd residual emotion that had followed it, no it was those horrific images she saw every time she tried closing her eyes. Ironically she had never liked baths, finding them impractical, however right now she welcomed the way the hot water steamed up the room, and irritated her skin just enough to keep her mind off the stitch. Tilting her head back, her eyelids heavy she tries her best to keep them open, staring at the bright lights on the ceiling. She hears the faint click of the door opening, and lifts her head slightly in acknowledgement.

 **Cameron**

Stepping into the room, the sight before him is a pleasant one. Hearing him enter the room, Kirsten turns slightly, nodding her head in acknowledgement of his presence, sending water and bubbles over the overflowing tub. Without saying a word he walks across the tiled floor, careful not to to slip, and sits on the raised ledge opposite the bathtub. He looks at her, hoping to somehow figure out why she was taking a bath at 2 a.m. Her face is blank, as usual, although he does think he'd seen something akin to fear flash across her face momentarily, and the way she seemed to be scratching at her arm, almost as if she were trying to scrub something off her skin.

 **Kirsten**

Cameron walks across the bathroom, and takes a seat opposite the bath, giving her a look that she'd come to know as his "I'm worried about you, and I'm going to keep pestering you until you tell me what's wrong" face. Even though this 'thing' had been going on between them for a few months now, it still felt strange to have someone care so much about her. She looks over at Cameron, taking in the black circles under his eyes, the way his posture seems stiff and un-easy, and the way he keeps fidgeting with the sleeve of his t-shirt - she remembers Camille once telling her that those were signs of nervousness. Hearing Cameron clear his throat snaps her out of the daze.

 **Cameron**

Clearing my throat, I see Kirsten snap out of her thoughts. I wonder just how long she's been in here, and most importantly why. She's giving me her full attention now, head tilted, almost as if she's waiting for me to ask a question. Turning, so my whole body is facing her, I ask,

"What's got you up, Buttercup ?"

 **A/N -** Both Cameron and Kirsten are surprisingly hard to write for, but yeah, this is my first attempt at anything 'Stitchers' related, so if you want more of this story just let me know. Hope you enjoy. Also I know there isn't much dialogue, but I just wanted to set the scene first, and as you can probably tell this is happening a little bit more in the future than where the show is at.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 _"What's got you up, Buttercup ?"_

Kirsten sighs, fixing him with her usual dead-pan expression, avoiding the question, stalling. Mockingly, Cameron looks at the non-existent watch on his wrist, "Today would be great, Cupcake."

She continues fiddling with her fingers, not quite meeting his eye, attempting to sink deeper into the water. He leans forward, reaching his hand down to slightly splash her with the water, "Unless you plan on growing gills Sparky, I'd recommend you tell me what's wrong."

Kirsten huffs, sending puffs of foam flying up. "I don't know what you're talking about." Her tone is calm, steady, rehearsed.

Frustrated he tugs at his hair, letting out a sigh he says, "You know, it's not normal to take baths at 2 o'clock in the morning right ?"

Another dead-pan stare, followed by another monotone answer, "Right . . . and what you're trying to say is ?"

Another exasperated sigh, "Kirsten, what happened in that stitch ?"

"I've already told you–"

"And don't say that it's just residual emotion, because if it were, I don't think you'd be sitting here, attempting to boil yourself."

"Well, mother hen, if you'd actually let me get a word in edgewise, I'd be able to tell you that I, am perfectly fine."

He studies her, not missing the way she wasn't actually looking him in the eye as she usually did, and the way she kept scratching at her arms. "We promised, no more secrets remember ?"

"Yes, I remember, and your point is ?"

He couldn't help but wonder how someone submerged in a bubble bath, could still look so impassive.

Letting out a sigh and rubbing his temples, he walks over to the side of the tub, kneeling slightly so he can face her, "Kirsten."

"Cameron," she counters calmly.

"I know something's up, so if you could just tell me, you'd make this so much easier for the both of us, Sparky."

"Well, Doctor Smartypants, I already told you, there is nothing to tell."

Hearing this sets Cameron off. Pacing up and down the length of the bathroom, heatedly ranting about how important it was to tell him if anything ever happened in a stitch and what-not. Tuning him out, Kirsten's mind begins to wander again, sub-consciously making her shudder.

Hearing Cameron still rambling brings her out of her thoughts, and for that she has to thank him. Growing tired and annoyed of his tirade, with all the force she can muster, she forces the water out of the already over flowing tub, splashing Cameron, leaving his t-shirt and the floor soaked.

He's surprised at first, not saying anything for a few seconds.  
"What the hell was that for ?"

"You were acting like a hot-head, so I thought I'd cool you off," she replies matter-of-factly.

"One, that is not cold enough to cool someone off, Dopey, so if you'll excuse me I have to go change."

Kirsten watches him walk across the room towards the door, he stops turns his head and says, "And BTW, that last one was not a term of an endearment, because again you were–"

"Acting dopey, I got it."

 **A/N** If I thought writing them as characters was hard, writing dialogue for them is even harder, I know it's not a great chapter, but I will probably go through the story and edit it at a later time. But yeah let me know where I could improve.


	3. Chapter 3

_"Acting dopey, I got it."_

Hearing the faint click of the door as Cameron closes it behind him, she leans her head back, staring at the harsh ceiling lights until her eyes start prickling and she had to blink to get rid of the feeling, blurry purple shapes appearing briefly in her line of vision.  
The bath water had cooled slightly, no longer irritating her skin. Rather than moving to refill the tub with hotter water, as she had been doing for what she had estimated had been the past hour, she gets out of the bath. Stepping under the shower to wash off the soapy water, as the bath drains.

Stepping out of the shower she dries herself off, after realising that she hadn't brought any clothes to change into, she wraps the towel around herself, and heads into the bedroom, shivering slightly at the sudden change in temperature. Leaving the bathroom door open a crack and using the limited light to navigate around the room.  
Out of the corner of her eye she notices the neatly folded shirt and boxers placed on the edge of the bed, dropping the towel, and picking up the clothes she gets dressed.

Dropping her towel into the laundry basket and muffling a yawn, she realises just how tired she is. Eyes drooping and body heavy, she crawls onto the bed, falling back on top of the sheets. Cameron's back is to her, the space between them is a foreign feeling. Rolling onto her back she looks around the room, seeing nothing but fuzzy black outlines, fingers tapping nervously against her stomach. Shivering slightly, goosebumps lightly coating her skin, she gets in under the sheets, snuggling into the pillows, fingers dancing lightly across Cameron's back, subtly trying to see if he was awake.

Growing impatient, she huffs, propping herself up on her elbow so she can look over his shoulder.  
"I know you're awake," her voice is softer now, no longer the deadpan monotone it had been some time ago.

Letting out a breath he hadn't been aware he was holding, he turns around to face her.  
"I'm sorry," her voice a whisper in the darkness, "It's just hard to talk about things like that, to relive them."

"I know, but I can't help you Stre–" He's interrupted by Kirsten's stomach growling. "Looks like someone's hungry," he remarks, poking her stomach.

"I must've forgotten dinner."

He pulls himself out of bed and putting on his glasses, he holds his arm out for her saying "Come on stretch, I'll make you a snack."

Allowing Cameron to drag her out of bed, they walk into the kitchen, Kirsten taking a seat at the breakfast bar, watching Cameron pull out several things from fridge.

"Cameron ?"

"Yeah"

"None of that wheatgrass stuff, okay ?"

 **A/N: I know this chapter sucks ,(g** **oing through a bit of writer's block at the moment) so it is** **more of a filler chapter, so I'm going to try and get the next chapter up really soon.  
Thanks.**


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